by

Railway Industry in France

TGV 1

1. Industry Overview:

In France, one of the most popular transport modes is train.  SNCF is France’s national railway, providing high speed, overnight and local services in France and beyond into Spain, Switzerland and Italy.

>> http://www.tgv-europe.com/en

Types of Train in France:

01-TGV

02-Lunea

03-Teoz

04-TER

06-Intercites

Railway industry is quite similar to airline industry, as it sells seats for a transport from an origin to a destination. The price depends on journey, class, and date of booking. Thus, railway industry can be placed in Quadrant 2, where its service has variable prices for a predictable duration. This industry also has the appropriate characteristics to apply revenue management strategies. Those characteristics are:

– Inflexible capacity: the number of seats on a train is fixed

– Variable and uncertain demand: the demand is different depending on the time of day, day of week, origin-destination pairs, and purpose of travel

– Perishable inventory: the unoccupied seat cannot be inventoried, and the revenue of that seat is missed

– Low marginal cost and high production cost

– Product can be sold in advance

– Heterogeneous customers with different segments, varying by age, purpose of travel, independent or group, etc.

However, there are some differences that make the revenue management of railway industry is little bit different than that of airline industry.

– More difficult to forecast demand and to have the accurate number of travelers on a service: no check-in procedure, open tickets (rail pass) generally allow passengers to travel on any rail service, walk up tickets are very common (a large number of passengers purchase their tickets on the day from the station)

– Less difficult to deal with overbooking: passengers are often allowed to stand during train journeys hence increasing capacity beyond the number of seats

———

 2. Space

Railway industry defines space implicitly.

Normally, a train has two classes: Economy (2nd Class) and Comfort (1st Class). The seating options and services are different for each class. The price is same for different seating options in a class.

 Economy Class:
01-Class2
 Comfort Class:

01-Class 1

Trains, especially TGV has “TGV bar”, which provides a wide selection of meals and sweet snacks available for purchase. Additionally, the TGV bar offers films on DVD, magazines, games for children, Paris Metro tickets, even USB sticks for purchase. There is also a rolling snack cart that comes to the customers’ seats.

01-TGV Bar

For additional revenue, TGV offers Premium service includes 1st Class seat, meal service, and access to the TGV lounge at the train stations.

Personally, I would charge difference fares for different seating options in each class. A group will want to pay more to have a Club 4 seat. A couple will want the Duo seat or Club 2 seat. And an individual traveler will want a solo seat. As the number of seat are fixed, we can charge for each option, rather than a “first comes first served” policy.

I’m also thinking about a mini-cinema on train, especially overnight train. Normally, the overnight train have load factor less than 80%, so the train can use one car to transform into a mini-cinema with a projector and a screen. When the train is busy, the car will be transformed in normal guest car again.

——

3. Time

Railway industry defines time implicitly.

Although the duration of a journey is determined, the railway industry sells a journey rather than specifically selling time. In addition, there may be issues that cause the increase/decrease in duration of the journey.

However, the railway industry also tries to sell time explicitly with the Rail pass. With Rail pass, customers can have unlimited travel on the national rail network of France for a fixed number of days. The choices are 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9-day pass within a one-month period. Travel days may be used consecutively or non-consecutively.  Thus, the fare becomes rate-per-day, not anymore rate-per-trip.

>> http://www.raileurope.com/rail-tickets-passes/france-pass/index.html

The industry can sell time explicitly by providing Rail pass with weekly or monthly unit. However, I think it will not be effective as it makes the demand forecasting much more complicated.  Half-day unit won’t make sense as a trip is normally more than 3 hours.

——–

4. Price

Tickets can be purchased 60 to 120 days in advance depending on the route.

Ticket discounts are based on advance purchase, availability, and certain restrictions. Everyone is eligible to receive discounted fares by purchasing an Economy or Comfort class ticket in advance. Youth and seniors can enjoy specific discounts as well. Discounted tickets are available for youth (under 26 of age), seniors (age 60 and over) and children (generally ages 4-11) but should be verified with each product.

Price at 1 week before departure
01-Price-1st class-10AM-1wk

Price at 2 weeks before departure

01-Price-1st class-10AM-2wk

Price at 3 weeks before departure

01-Price-1st class-10AM-3wk

Price at 4 weeks before departure

01-Price-1st class-10AM-4wk

Normally, prices are reduced for 1or 2 week-advanced purchase, slightly reduced for 3-week-advanced purchased, and stay same for more-than-4-week-advanced purchase.

The physical rate fences are the classes:
01-Booking-Class

 

The non-physical rate fences are age, season ticket, and loyalty

01-Booking-Rate Fences-1

01-Booking-Rate Fences-2

01-Booking-Rate Fences-3

01-Booking-Rate Fences-4

As the rate fences are now already too sophisticated, I would rather consolidate these fences than create new fences to confuse customers.

 

(-Thao Ly)

——–

References:

http://www.raileurope.com

http://www.tgv-europe.com

http://www.sncf.co.uk/

Amstrong and Messneir, 2010. Railway revenue management: Overview and Methods

Schroeder, Braun, and Schnieder. Revenue management in the railway industry

 

213,781 thoughts on “Railway Industry in France”

  2. Explore Microsoft products and services for your home or business. Shop Surface, Microsoft 365, Xbox, Windows, Azure, and more. microsoft

  5. I have read a few excellent stuff here. Definitely price bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much attempt you set to create the sort of fantastic informative site. pola slot

  6. Thanks for the tips on credit repair on this particular site. Some tips i would offer as advice to people would be to give up this mentality they can buy right now and pay out later. As a society most of us tend to make this happen for many things. This includes holidays, furniture, and items we’d like. However, it is advisable to separate a person’s wants from all the needs. While you are working to boost your credit score you have to make some sacrifices. For example you are able to shop online to economize or you can click on second hand shops instead of expensive department stores pertaining to clothing. pola slot

  7. hey there and thank you for your information – I have definitely picked up something new from right here. I did however expertise several technical issues using this website, since I experienced to reload the site lots of times previous to I could get it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your hosting is OK? Not that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will often affect your placement in google and can damage your quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords. Anyway I am adding this RSS to my e-mail and could look out for a lot more of your respective exciting content. Ensure that you update this again very soon.. pola slot

  8. Please let me know if you’re looking for a author for your site. You have some really good posts and I believe I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d really like to write some content for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please blast me an e-mail if interested. Regards! pola slot

  19. extraordinary records sharing .. i’m very glad to read this newsletter .. thanks for giving us undergo info.excellent excellent. I respect this submit. Pomoc drogowa

  21. Loveinsuit is a brand that epitomizes elegance and sophistication in the realm of romantic attire. Specializing in finely crafted, stylish suits designed for couples, Loveinsuit offers a unique blend of luxury and comfort. Each suit is meticulously tailored to enhance the wearer’s charm, creating a perfect harmony between modern fashion and timeless romance. Whether for weddings, anniversaries, or special date nights, Loveinsuit ensures that every occasion is adorned with love and grace, making moments unforgettable. High cut Lycra swimsuit

  22. ChatGPT
    Addiction is a complex and pervasive condition that extends beyond mere substance abuse to include behaviors like gambling, gaming, and even work. At its core, addiction represents a compulsive and uncontrollable urge to engage in a particular activity or consume a substance, despite negative consequences.

    Physiologically, addiction alters the brain’s chemistry, particularly affecting the reward pathways. Substances like drugs or alcohol flood the brain with dopamine, creating a euphoric feeling that reinforces the desire to repeat the behavior. Over time, tolerance develops, necessitating increased amounts to achieve the same effect, further perpetuating the cycle. Trends and Transformations

  23. Addiction is a complex and pervasive condition that extends beyond mere substance abuse to include behaviors like gambling, gaming, and even work. At its core, addiction represents a compulsive and uncontrollable urge to engage in a particular activity or consume a substance, despite negative consequences.Fashion Hoodies!

  27. Elevate Your Beauty Routine with Clean Glam: Natural, Sustainable, and Cruelty-Free | A Sobreezybabe company.

    Explore Clean Glam’s range of clean beauty cosmetics and natural skincare products. From organic skincare routines to vegan beauty products, we lead the clean beauty market with eco-friendly, non-toxic solutions. Learn how to create effortless Clean Glam Makeup looks with our step by step tutorials! Discover holistic beauty solutions for a radiant you!

  30. kantorbola kantorbola adalah situs paling terpercaya saat ini di indonesia untuk bermain games online. dengan memiliki rtp tinggi kantor bola juga menyediakan banyak sekali permainan mudah menang.

  39. Fun88 là nhà cái hàng đầu Châu Á, cung cấp đa dạng các sản phẩm cá cược như thể thao, casino online, xổ số, game bài,…cùng hàng ngàn khuyến mãi hấp dẫn cho người chơi mới và cũ.

  40. Fun88 là nhà cái hàng đầu Châu Á, cung cấp đa dạng các sản phẩm cá cược như thể thao, casino online, xổ số, game bài,…cùng hàng ngàn khuyến mãi hấp dẫn cho người chơi mới và cũ.

  42. I definitely enjoying every little bit of it. It is a great website and nice share. I want to thank you. Good job! You guys do a great blog, and have some great contents. Keep up the good work โทนเนอร์

  44. Menunjuk meja setimpal atau bersumber untuk batasan minimun beserta maksimum judi karenakan tuk setiap meja terdapat opsi minimal dan maksimum betting. Seterusnya sehabis akses ke display situs slot gacor terbaru meja Roulette kalian akan memandang melimpah kolom dalam hadir dan meja angka dimana bakal kalian taruhkan.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *